Method and apparatus for tow fixation



Jan- 10, 1967 H. af. VANDER LINDE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR 'rowl FIXATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed oct. 1 2, 1954 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TOW FIXATION Filed oct. 12, 1964 Y 2 sheets-sheetv 2 4l l #iM- .in l

` D: a J L 1 E d i Q 6k zal E B i lUnited States Patent Of ce 3,296,995 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TOW FIXATION Harold E. Van der Linde, New Canaan, Conn., assignor to The Continental Oil Company, Ponca City, Okla., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 403,165 7 Claims. (Cl. 114-235) This invention relates to apparatus and methods for casting oft' the tow line fkrpmautowing vessel htomarinuri;w

mannedh's'ell-pfopelled submersible barge.

It is known that submersible barges are old in the patented and published art. However, full recognition has not been given to many problems encountered in the operation of such barges, or to the varying conditions under which they operate. For example, ,the barge is usually surfaced for loading and unloading, and also surfaced prior to entry into a harbor, or when operating in water areas of insufcient depth.

Numerous other variables also affect the depth keeping ability of the barge, such as changes in water temperature, salinity or specific gravity, and the presence or ab-V sence of undersurface currents or waves. It is inevitable that a barge towed for thousands of miles, as from Japan to the Mediterranean Sea, will be in a medium which is ever changing, and even in the Mediterranean Sea the water medium varies greatly.

Having in mind the foregoing, the invention disclosed herein as well as those defined in the assignees copending applications SNs 403,164 and 403,167 in the name of Archer M. Nickerson, Jr., SNs 403,163 and 403,166 in the name of John Davis Shuster, and SN 403,162 in the name of Robert M. Cashman, all led herewith on October l2, 1964, are particularly but not exclusively directed to a barge of the type, which, when loaded, has a slight positive buoyancy and includes tins and stabilizers which are pre-set at the surface to maintain a constant attack angle which will cause the barge to seek a pre-determined depth when the towing ship has reached a pre-determined speed, and to maintain that depth when the towing vessel is running at a specific speed with a given length of tow line.

It becomes evident that if the speed of the towing ship is varied, the force exerted by the tow line on the submerged barge will vary and depth could be controlled in this manner; but varying the speed of a ship is extremely costly, whereas varying the length of the tow line is relatively economical.

. It has been determined that a barge having a displacement of approximately three thousand tons and operating in the Japanese Sea will, with proper pre-setting of its ns and stabilizers, dive when the towing vessel reaches a speed approximating eight knots and will level off at a depth of approximately thirty feet when the towing vessel reaches a speed of fifteen knots with a six hundred foot length of towing cable. Obviously, the attack angle will depend on the size of the ns and stabilizers relative to the size of the hull, all of which are within the ordinary skill of naval architects.

In conventional towing operations, the tow is usually of the surface type which may be boarded, or permits the bringing alongside of a tug which may maneuver the tov.' into proper position for convenient handling. Submersible barges have very little freeboard, and unless catwalks, or the like are built, a tow line may only be secured when the barge is surfaced in still water.

Moreover, a submersible must be surfaced before entry :nto most harbors, or whenever there is insuicient depth of water. Normally the towing vessel will be a tanker and it will be necessary to cast of the barge and have it taken in tow by a tug. Because of this, it is desirable to or `disconnecting a tow from thewtowing vessell leave a section of tow line securedto the barge which may be recovered by .the tug without the necessity of the tug going'alongside.

Additionally, sea conditions may be such that the barge must be cast off at some distance from the towing vessel. This-is also true during poor visibility such as in fog or at night. A still further problem is the necessity forl casting off in emergency conditions at sea, such as to avoid a collision, and even though the barge is submerged. Under these conditions it is essential that the tow line not foul the towing ship's propellers.

It becomes evident that the primary object of this invention is to provide means and methods for castingvff 'furtheFhbj'eet-is the provision'bf means or severing the tow line at the stern ofthe towing vessel.

Another objective of this invention is to provide an assembly which will avoid the necessity of having a i A still further objectivengltwthis inventionjs .topro-s Vi'dei'hexplfdsivecableevering coupling along the cable Te'ng'th "wherein that portion of the cable between theV vcoupling and the towing vessel may be removed tol a nonu v interfering `position.

A stiil further objective of the invention is to provid an explosive coupling along cable length which may be readily removed and after use permits replacement of a second coupling of like capabilities.

These and other objectivesand advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following description of one system made in accordance with the invention as diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a. diagrammatic view of a vessel towing a surfaced barge.

FIGURE 1a isa front view of the barge shown in FIG. l.

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 after the tow line coupling is destroyed.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-section of a fair lead and cable-parting assembly.

FIGURE 4 is an end view of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal cross-section of a cable coupling.

FIGURES 6 and 7 are views of recovery means automatically activated upon cable-parting, and

FIGURE 8 is a circuit diagram.

Referring to the drawings, there is diagrammatically shown in FIGURE 1 a towing vessel A having a cable fair lead B mounted on Athe stern thereof and a submersible barge C interconnected to vessel A by a cable D provided intermediate of its length with a disconnect coupling and associated means E.

As indicated, the barge has very little freeboard and it is provided with fins 10 and a horizontal stabilizer 12 which are below the waters surface and project a substantial distance from the hull as indicated in FIGURE la. Because of this Constr; priori, only a very shallow draft tug could come alongside, and anv kind of sea is running, even this would he dangerous and damage to the. fins and stabilizer would probably result.

Because of the foregoing, the tow line D comprises what will be called a ship cable 14 and a barge cable 16 Patented Jan. 1e, 1967 Y joined together by the coupling E.\"[hc forward `end of `FIGURES 3 and 4) comprising upper and lower semicylindrical mating members 22 and 24 defining a leadway or passage 26 for the cable 14. The members 22 and 24 are of steel or other suitable metal and cach is provided with one or more radial bores 28. for'receiving a shaped charge 30 held therein in any suitable way. Leading from each charge is an electric lead 32 to a source of power hereinafter described. A A

The top member 22 is removably secured to the bottom member 24 by a suitable number of dogs`36. The bottom member has secured thereto a turn table 38 rotatable in a suitable holder 40 riveted to the ship structure 42, this mounting permitting the fair lead to swivel as to prevent undue chafing of the cable.

With the above construction should an emergency at sea arise, such as the requirement for full speed astern, the shaped charges 39 are fired and cable 14 is severed at thc after-most end or fantail of the vessel A. The severing of the cable 14 at the fantail will assure ythatit falls clear of the ship and the propellers, for although the props may be turning for full speed astern a period of time will elapse before the forward headway is stopped. Additionally, the towing force on the barge is instantaneously released, and the barge's forward movement will Y rapidly diminish and, as the barge has a positive buoyancy,

it will surface.

It is" understandable that the cable 14 will only be severed at B in emergencieseven though the cut cable prtion may be recovered, as repair of the cable is expensive.

For other conditions the ship cable 14 and barge cable 16 are joined by thevcoupling E. As seen in FIGURE 5, a cylindrical hollow canister 40 'hie rnunlinn lnmnricnc each end of which is provided with an extension 42 having a central bore for receiving the respective ends of the cables 14 and 16. The respective ends of the cables having secured thereto a splined tting 46, the. splines 48 tting into ways 50 cut in the bore of extension 42. A suitable cap 52 is screw threaded onto extension 42 to secure the cable in the extension. With this construction, the canister and cable ends may be readily joined or parted.

At the entry to a harbor, when the sea is calm, cable 14 is taken in until the coupling E reaches the fair lead B. The top member 22 of fair lead B is then removed, cable 14 lifted out, and cable 14 is again taken in until coupling E is aboard. Coupling E is then removed, and a buoy and line secured to the end of cable 16, the line being slightly longer than cable 16. The cable is then dropped over the stern paying the buoy line with it until the buoy is carried overboard. A tug may then approach the buoy and recover cable 16 without approaching barge C.

Conditions may be such that cable 14'may not be taken in and to provide for this, the canister 40 has an explosive charge 60 therein, detonated by a squib 62 through diaphragm 65. Squib 62 is connected through suitable leads 64 to a power source, the leads passing through a suitable water tight outlet 66 in one head of canister 44.

Associated with coupling E are cable recovery means comPrising box structures 70 and 72 secured respectively to cables 16 and 14 by clamping collars 75' of any suitable construction. Each box is provided with a hinged cover S0, with the hinge positioned toward the coupling E. The opposite end of each cover carries a latch 82 pivoted thereon and the latch dog enters a detent in the adjacent box end below the pivot. The latch arm above the pivot is connected by a lanya'rd to the other cable, that is the laflyard from 70 on the barge cable 16 is secured to the SINP cable 14 by a clamp S4 and vice versa. As a result when Coupling E i s destroyed by its exposive charge, the

necessary v 4 respective lanyards will be pulled `to trip the latches and open the boxes even though the latter have a water tight seal thereon. As the cables 14 and 16 drop the lanyards will break away.

Carried in box 70 on the barge cable 16 is a line 88, slightly longer than cable 16. One end of line 88 is secured in the boxand the other `to a buoy 90 which fr .n gravide a drag to prevent the cable from running under the stern and possibly fouling the propellers.

Obviously when recoveryhas been made, the fragmented pieces of the canister may be removed and when the barge is to go to sea again a replacement canister is attached to cable 16 and cable 14. If the barge must be towed out of the harbor by a tug the coupling would be made on the tug by initially passing the cable 14 to the tug, cable 16 being the towing cable to the tug.

As indicated diagrammatically in FIGURE 7, the buoy 90 could have a receiving set therein, and the leads 64 from canister 40 could be led through box 70 to the buoy whereupon the detonation could be caused by a radio signal from the towing vessel.

Additionally buoy 90 could have a beeper therein operated by a battery of the type which becomes operative when its terminals are immersed in water. The terminals could project through the buoy easing, inasmuch as the box 70 is watertight.

It is apparent that there may be times when it is desirable t0 detonate B and E simultaneously even though it means the loss of cable portion 14. FIGURE 6 shows a wiring diagram wherein the leads 32 from fair lead B run to a switch on the bridge of the towing vessel, as this would be the control point for emergency operations. The leads 64 lead a switch 102 in the ship`s stern which would be the control point for taking on or releasing the tow. However, all leads may run to switch 104 on the bridge for severing cable 14 and destroying coupling E if this were required. Such a situation could readily arise in a heavy fog outside the entrance to a harbor. Cable 14 could be winched in a safe distance to minimize the amount which would be lost whereupon it could be severed as coupling E is destroyed. Thereafter with a beepcr in buoy 90, it could be found with a minimum of danger of collision of any ofthe vessels involved.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be practical and etlicient embodiments of my invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto, as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition, and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for parting a cable extending between a dsidcanister mounted intermediate the ends of said cable and upon detonation dividing said cable into a first length secured to said tow vessel and a second length secured to said barge, electrical conduits extending along said rs't length from said vessel to said canister to provide a detonating charge to said canister, means for securing one end of said canister to said first length, means to secure the opposite end o said c to said .sezond length, a sea anchor secured to said ti st length at a position adjacent said canister, and means for releasing said sea anchor upon detonation'of said charge ir. said canister.

2. Apparatus for parting a cable extending between a. towing vessel and a barge compris ing a replaceable explosive canister mounted intermediatethe ends ofsaid cable and upon detonation dividing said cable into a first length secured to said tow vessel and a second length secured to said barge, electrical conduits extendingvalongsaid first nating charge to said canister, means'fo removably securing one end of said canister to said first length second means to removably secure the opposite end of said canister to said second length, a buoy secured to said second length adjacent said canister, a sea anchor secured to said rst length at aV position adjacent said canister and means carried by said cable for releasing said buoy and said sea anchor upon detonation of said charge in said canister.

3. Apparatus for parting a cable extending between a towing vessel and a barge comprising a replaceable explosive canister mounted intermediate the ends of said cable and upon detonation dividing it into a first length secured to said tow vessel and a second length secured to said barge, electrical charge delivering means between said vessel and said canister to provide a detonating charge to said canister, means for removably securing one end of said vcanister to said first length, second means to removably secure the opposite end of said canister to said second length, a sea anchor secured to said rst length at a position adjacent said canister, a buoy secured to said `second length adjacent said canister, means carried by said rst length for releasing said buoy upon detonation of the charge and means carried by said second length for releasing said sea anchor upon detonation of the charge.

4. The apparatus claimed in claim 3 wherein said 30 second length of cable extending rom said vessel, a

replaceable, self-destructing explosive canister joining the said first length of cable to secure a line leading to a surface buoy, and second means to send an electrical detonating charge to said canister.

6. In a system wherein a vessel tows a submersible barge, a first length of cable extending from said barge, a sco`nd length of cable extending from said vessel, a replaceable, self-destructing explosive canister joining the `free ends of said cable, a housing adjacent the free end of said first length of cable, a buoy and line in said housing, a lid pivotally secured to said housing, a spring-biased latch holding said lid in its closed position, a cord having one end secured to said second length and a second end secured to said latch, and third means to send an electrical detonating charge to said canister whereby after explosion said cord pulls said latch away .from said lid.

7; The method of locating a severed end of a normally continuous line of towing cable extending between a towing vessel and a towed barge which cable is caused to be parted under varying circumstances, comprising the steps of aixing an explosive severing charge intermediate the length of the cable, mounting a buoy to that length of the cable between said charge and said barge at a point adjacent said charge and exploding said charge only after said buoy has been afiixed to said length.

AReferences Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,312,405 8/1919 Lander 114-235 X 1,418,797 6/1922 Hammond 114-235 X 2,377,442 6/1945 Osterhoudt 114--235 2,926,565 3/1960 Thorness 294-83 X 3,067,712 12/ 1962 Doerpinghaus 1l4-235 X FOREIGN PATENTS 323,703 1/1930 GreatBritain. 821,445 10/1959 Great Britain.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

free ends of said cable, means adjacent the free end of 46 T. M. BLIX, Assistant Examiner.` 

1. APPARATUS FOR PARTING A CABLE EXTENDING BETWEEN A TOWING VESSEL AND A BARGE COMPRISING A REPLACEABLE EXPLOSIVE CANISTER MOUNTED INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF SAID CABLE AND UPON DETONATION DIVIDING SAID CABLE INTO A FIRST LENGTH SECURED TO SAID TOW VESSEL AND A SECOND LENGTH SECURED TO SAID BARGE, ELECTRICAL CONDUITS EXTENDING ALONG SAID FIRST LENGTH FROM SAID VESSEL TO SAID CANISTER TO PROVIDE A DETONATING CHARGE TO SAID CANISTER, MEANS FOR SECURING ONE END OF SAID CANISTER TO SAID FIRST LENGTH, MEANS TO SECURE THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID CANISTER TO SAID SECOND LENGTH, A SEA ANCHOR SECURED TO SAID FIRST LENGTH AT A POSITION ADJACENT SAID CANISTER, AND MEANS FOR RELEASING SAID SEA ANCHOR UPON DETONATION OF SAID CHARGE IN SAID CANISTER. 